


Books and Caffeine

by Insane_Tomato



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, and i have come to fill the void, librarian bbh, there needs more skephalo fluff in this world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25055395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insane_Tomato/pseuds/Insane_Tomato
Summary: A college librarian's work was never done.No matter how many books you stock, there will always be more; no matter how many people you check out, there will always be one last person at the door. It wasn't a physically taxing job, but it sure was a mental challenge. Days were spent trying to balance stocking, students who didn't know where their book was, and making sure nobody burned their hand on the coffee machine in the back again, all while being one of two workers on a Sunday.Working at a college library while also being a college student for that same school was hell, but Darryl loved it.
Relationships: Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 125
Kudos: 1194
Collections: ⁿᵒᵇᵒᵈʸ ⁿᵉᵉᵈˢ ᵗᵒ ᵏⁿᵒʷ





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This work is dedicated to my friend Den (@DenAliYan729 on ao3, @denaliyan729 on insta). We both decided there wasn't enough skephalo fluff in the world, so I have filled that void. Enjoy!

A college librarian's work was never done.

No matter how many books you stock, there will always be more; no matter how many people you check out, there will always be one last person at the door. It wasn't a physically taxing job, but it sure was a mental challenge. Days were spent trying to balance stocking, students who didn't know where their book was, and making sure nobody burned their hand on the coffee machine in the back again, all while being one of two workers on a Sunday.

Working at a college library while also being a college student for that same school was hell, but Darryl loved it.

There was something calming about getting to interact with the plethora of students, ranging from sleepy to dead exhausted. When days were slow, he had the chance to read whatever book he wanted behind the checkout counter and snack on pastries and coffee. 

He was in the middle of biting a muffin when a student who looked like an absolute zombie walked in. He quickly snapped his book closed and smiled. He never really needed to fake customer service grins and voices.

The zombie walked past without noticing him and practically collapsed on a table. He didn't look for a book, didn't take out a laptop, he didn't even have a bag. 

The more Darryl observed him, the more confused and concerned he was. The zombie was just… laying there. With his head on the table. With no work beside him.

He supposed he could let him rest for a little bit. Maybe he had come to take a nap in a more calm atmosphere? So long as he didn't snore, and he wasn't yet, he could stay. It's not like the library was ever that busy.

@)---'--,---

It was ten minutes before close. This kid had been napping for three hours, not moving once from the table.

His trainee George had already gone home, leaving Darryl to not only clean up by himself again, but to wake this tired student by himself. He loved George and was proud of what he's learned in such little time, but sometimes he could be a pain in the rear.

He gently put a hand on his shoulder, trying his hardest not to be awkward. The zombie didn't flinch. "Hey, you gotta wake up…" Not only was his voice hushed because he worked in a library, but he didn't want to scare the poor guy.

His soft snores turned into a groan. He buried his face deeper into the table, refusing to look up. He muttered something, but it wasn't quite audible.

"We close here soon, you need to wake up, sir…" This wasn't the first time he had to wake somebody, but this was the first time he had someone barge into his library specifically to sleep on a three year old, uncomfortable table. He wondered if the zombie was going to go to bed at reasonable time, seeing as it's currently nine in the evening. 

"Nm, five more mins…"

Darryl laughed softly. "No, I can't give you five more minutes, we're closed…" He gently shook the zombie again, and took his hand off when he rose up.

He loudly cracked his neck, rubbed his eyes and stretched. Wincing at the horrible sound from one bone alone, he let him get up at his own time and left to finish putting books away. He had just loaded his cart when the zombie came back, shuffling over to him.

"Are you closed?" He tried to be patient; nobody was at their brightest right after waking up. 

"Mhm. I'm putting away the last books now." He pushed his book cart away to the shelves, hoping the zombie would take the hint. He didn't. 

"How long was I asleep for?" To Darryl's annoyance, he started running his finger along the dozens of books, stopping occasionally to pick one up. He never put it back in the right spot. To top it off, he clearly didn’t care that this was a library and he needed to keep his voice down.

"Three hours, I think. You looked horrible, you needed the rest." That wasn't necessarily a lie, but he'd prefer if people didn't nap and drool on his tables. "You looked like a zombie. Studying for finals?"

"Yeah. I’m getting a math major, pretty hard stuff." He had seen this before, he had so many people constantly gloat about their degrees and who they assumed they would be in the future. 

He hummed in response, stocking book after book. He wouldn't leave him alone, yapping about everything under the sun. Usually Darryl would scold him about his volume level, but they were the only two people in the library and the door was locked, anyway. 

"So what's your major? Or do you just work here? You seem pretty young." He'd take that as a compliment.

"Computer science." He smiled when he saw the zombie flinch, taken aback. A math major didn't seem nearly as hard as a computer science major.

"Wait, seriously? Computer science!? The hell are you doing in a library when you're working for such an impressive major?" To Darryl’s dismay, his voice grew louder with excitement. He may have found it cute, if he didn’t have to work double shifts today and was closing late because of him.

"Language, and keep your voice down. I don't have it yet, and I just needed a side job so I could afford to eat." The books were all stocked, so he turned around a little sharply to return his little cart. He still didn't take the hint.

"But it's such an impressive degree! Wouldn't you be better with an internship? Dude, I'd totally hire you if I was a boss. I thought my major was hard, but you're working night shifts _and_ getting a computer science major!" This guy was really starting to get on his nerves now. 

"I don't have the degree yet, you muffin." He made a point to slowly put the cart back where it belonged, slowly shut off his computer and very slowly gather his things. “And an internship never pays much. Usually it’s unpaid, in fact.”

The zombie never took a hint. "Muffin? And still, it's so impressive! All I do is sit around and play Minecraft all day, but you're working _and_ getting a com-"

"Yes, I know my major." He unlocked the library door and waved the annoying zombie out. To his dismay, he stood outside waiting for him so he could keep talking to him.

He stayed a little quiet as Darryl relocked the door and exit. He spun on his heels, walking towards the school exit. There were rapid footsteps behind him that slowed once he was back beside him again. He sighed.

"So what's your name?"

"Darryl."

There was a sweet silence for a minute. "I'm Zak, nice to meet you!" He nodded in response, not wanting to deal with him at all. "That's kind of a cute name, y'know."

He paused, not quite sure how to respond with that. God, he could feel Zak's shit eating grin next to him; he didn't even have to turn his head. "Thank you…?" He kept walking, shaking his head and awkwardly chuckling. "Is that why you're following me? You think the librarian you just met is cute?"

"Yes and no. I always walk this way because this is where my dorms are, but it's nice to talk with an adorable librarian along the way." Darryl decided to ignore the fact that his cheeks were getting a little hot. 

"I'm not cute. And do you know how much of a pain it was to wake you? You're a bad muffin."

Zak laughed in response. It sounded surprisingly charming, and almost rang with an echo. "Bad muffin!? What, is a bad muffin like, a rotten muffin or something? What kind of insult is that!?"

He paused as there was a fork in the path. How did they get outside? As he went one way, Zak stepped to the opposite way. "It's a good insult!" Darryl found himself smiling, even though he was irritated at this guy's stupid behavior. He waited until Zak was done laughing to leave him.

"Looks like we're going opposite ways. Do I at least get a kiss goodnight?" 

"Yeah- Wait no you don't! No kiss for you." His face felt even warmer as furrowed his brows, angry at Zak's stupid laughter. 

"Bye! Love you!" he yelled loudly, making a point to annoy Darryl further. Groaning in irritation, he watched as Zak laughed his way down the street, never looking back.

He was kind of cute, if he was being honest.


	2. Chapter 2

The best part about working the morning shift is that it’s never too busy, so it was fairly easily to get everything done. Unless you were distracted by an annoying college student named Zak.

Currently, he was babbling on about something that happened in his class while Darryl barely listened and tried his hardest to update the library’s ancient computer software. He didn’t quite understand how sleeping in a library for three hours the day prior meant he was expected to come back and treat him as an old friend. 

“And then the teacher actually walked out! Like, totally gone! Done! It was so cool. I don’t think I’ve ever pissed off anyone that hard before.” He also didn’t understand how someone couldn’t understand that you were supposed to keep your voice quiet in a library, especially when it was plastered on every single wall.

“Language. And you’re close to upsetting me as hard right now,” he muttered, trying to get the computer to do one simple task. It froze. “Please keep your voice down, it’s not too much to ask,” he hushed with a sigh. He kept talking as if he didn’t hear anything that just happened. Darryl groaned and dug his face into the keyboard, holding it up with his arms. 

“This one girl came up to me afterward, and she gave me her number. Pretty cool, I guess.” Wait, her number? He froze, staring at the space bar. For some reason, his throat seemed dry, even though he had been sipping on iced coffee moments before. That one statement alone somehow affected him in a way he didn’t think was great.

“Lucky you,” he found himself saying. His tongue felt sour. He stood back up, and started toying with one of his pins on his sweater; this one was his favorite. It was a small muffin pin, about the size of an inch, and he had gotten it through a tent at a local craft fair. It meant a lot to him, strangely enough. The computer was still frozen. 

There were three beautiful seconds of silence. “She’s not as cute as you. Where’d you get all those pins?” Instead of blushing, or however someone would normally respond to a compliment, he found himself glaring. He wasn’t cute! He was hardcore. 

“Not cute.” He decided to ignore Zak’s laughter. “And I got most of these from my friends, or a craft tent.” Turning to show him, he gestured to a few pins ranging from anime to kawaii. 

“This one’s pretty neat,” he said, stepping way too close for Darryl’s comfort. They were relatively the same height, so he was awkwardly hovering just above the annoying boy’s lips. While he observed the random pin he thought was neat, he was busy questioning how he had gotten into this situation in the first place.

It was expected of college students to smell bad, but Zak oddly smelled like warm lemongrass. He could see his oddly filled out lips, and the shine in his eyes was just bright enough to highlight his beautiful iris. It shined deeply in the fluorescent lights. It took him a minute to realize he was trying to talk to him.

“Wait, what’d you say?”

He rolled his eyes, lacking the common sense to step away. “I said, I might have to get a pin myself. Though I don’t think they’d suit me as well as they suit you." He glanced back up, staring intently into Darryl’s eyes. He had seen this look before.

He gently shoved him away; the computer had finally unfrozen. “I… thank you,” he mumbled, getting back to his work. His fingers shook as they typed, and he nervously took a sip of coffee. It calmed him. 

Then Zak went back to loudly talking about his day. He almost wished it could be five minutes ago; he’d take bottling his feelings over this guy’s annoying voice. It was almost like having a puppy follow you home; you’d think it’s a beautiful miracle, but puppies yap _so_ loudly. He really wouldn’t stop yapping as well. 

Come to think of it, he was really similar to a puppy. He had those wide, dark brown eyes you couldn’t resist, and he got oddly excited over anything that entertained him. He was loud, too, but sort of in a cute way. Not that he was cute.

God, why did he think this random person he just met was cute? He couldn’t think because of his consistent talking. It was getting annoying now that he had to go back to work on his computer.

“If I give you a muffin will you be quiet? I have a job, you know. I’m trying to work on this stupidly slow computer.” He didn’t mean to sound so snappy, but he was very annoyed right now. “I can give you some coffee as well,” he added, trying to subtly apologize for his tone. 

He thought it over, a little surprised he was interrupted. “If I don’t have to pay for it, then sure. I have a drink, though.” The idiot pulled out a Monster. Darryl sighed.

“Those are so bad for you, you know,” he said, walking away to the back room. He made sure to get one of the ones on top, so he could at least have a fresh one. 

He came back and handed him the muffin. It was a little adorable, seeing his eyes light up. “They keep me up, so it’s okay,” he retorted. It sounded like that was going to be his last words for a while. 

For a grand total of five minutes, the library was quiet again, with nothing but the sounds of typing, soft chewing, and the occasional sigh from other tired students. It was blissful.

Then it was interrupted. “So this is what a computer science degree gets you? A job fixing the oldest computer I’ve ever seen?”

Darryl hung his head, knowing that if he looked up he’d see Zak’s stupid grin again. “Oh my goodness, do not bring up my degree again.” He lightly slammed his fist on the table. He wished it was his face. 

He listened as he tried not to spit his bite of muffin out when he laughed. Eventually it slowed down as he chugged his drink to make sure he wouldn’t choke. He looked back up.

“...You never answered the question.”

“Be quiet, muffinhead.” 

@)---’--,---

Finally, his shift was over. It was a blessing and a curse that he didn’t work the night shift; it was good because he didn’t have to go to work, but it was bad because that meant he had to go to class.

“Your time of messing around with me is over, Zak,” he teased, grabbing his backpack. It felt oddly light- maybe he had forgotten to pack his textbook. 

He whined in response, earning a grin from the other. “But I love fucking around with you!” He butted his head on Darryl’s shoulder, which immediately got pushed off. 

“Language, and keep your voice down.” He sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Turning and walking out, he ignored whatever Zak yelled back at him. It probably wasn’t important to him anyway. 

He found himself thinking of the other boy when he walked on to class. Even though it was usually at his expense, it was nice hearing his really pretty laughter. He blushed a little as he remembered the earlier scene with Zak practically against him, looking at his pins. Had he meant to get that close?

He was sitting down in his seat; he couldn’t remember opening the door to the classroom. Robotically, he opened his drawstring to get his textbook.

He didn’t own a drawstring. This wasn’t his backpack.

Dumbfounded, he stared at the bag. _“Whose bag did I just take?”_ He opened it to find two pieces of paper, a broken crayon, and a half eaten bag of potato chips. 

Yep. This was Zak’s drawstring. 

Darryl groaned. Today was going to be a very, very long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys enjoyed! again, this is all dedicated to den. god bless you and your cursed images


	3. Chapter 3

A heavy bag thumped at Darryl’s feet, followed by the familiar sound of complaining. Thank goodness he didn’t have to update computer software again today.

“Dude, why is your bag actually so heavy? And why do you carry around a textbook all day? Your back’s gotta be broken by now.” To make a point, Zak exaggeratedly stretched, obviously trying to pop his back. He would have laughed if he wasn’t being so loud. 

He hummed slightly, drumming his fingers along the edge of the counter. “It’s heavy because I carry around a textbook all day, silly.” He couldn’t decide if he’d rather be alone with his thoughts in a near empty library, or have someone who was convinced they were friends hang around him for the rest of his night shift. 

He rolled his eyes. “I figured, but why carry a textbook around? You could leave it at your apartment. Or dorm. Or wherever you live.”

“Because I have priorities, Mr. Only-Has-A-Broken-Crayon-In-His-Bag.” He grinned at Zak’s chuckle, making a mental reminder to quit trying to make him laugh so much. It distracted him. “Your stupid drawstring is in the back, I’ll get it for you when you leave.”

“Did you eat my chips? I was saving those for later.” If he could let him behind the counter, he would. He was important to him, strangely enough, but rules were more important. “You better not have eaten them.”

He sighed, cracking his neck. Maybe he should take less shifts. “No, I did not eat your week old, stale, moldy chips. I have my own food at my apartment.” He heard a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes and held his head in his hands, nursing a small headache. He only got these when Zak was around. “I’m hoping you didn’t do anything to my textbook as well.”

Even without looking, Darryl could  _ feel  _ the other man’s stupid grin. The grin that let him know he was lying without a doubt, and that something was up. “Didn’t do a thing!” He groaned, shoving his head further into his hands. 

“Oh my goodness- I’ll check it out later. That was very expensive, you know.” He popped his head up, ignoring the mischievous gleam in his eyes. It oddly suited him. “If you did anything bad, I’m banning you from the library.” He was immediately met with a whine.

“But I didn’t do anything! Bad…” Despite his headache, he found himself smiling. It was sweet how much he seemed to look up to him, despite knowing him for three days. It was like he fell in love at first sight.

Oh God. It was like he fell in love at first sight. 

@)---’--,---

After a long day of putting away returned books, trying to get Zak to stop touching said returned books, scolding him about drinking another Monster even though he had one yesterday, and generally just having to deal with this stupid idiot, Darryl was ready to go home. He had a couple exams to study for; exam season was coming up. He had two months to try and pass probably the hardest exam he would ever have. 

“Closing time already?” Zak questioned, seemingly purposefully giving him puppy dog eyes. 

He flipped the open sign and started cleaning counters and tables. “Seeing as nobody is here, and it is also nine o’ clock, yes. It’s closing time.”

He felt somebody very close behind him. “No, we’re still here. Not nobody is here.” 

“‘Not nobody?’ I’m glad you’re not an English major-” Oh God, Zak was hugging him from behind. He instantly froze, not quite sure what to do. 

It wasn’t that he necessarily… disliked it. He seemed to fit perfectly, ducking his face into his shoulder. He could almost feel him breathing; it was slow and controlled compared to him forgetting that he needed to breathe. He was warm and soft, but this wasn’t exactly how you treated a friend.

Were they friends? They’ve known each other for exactly three days. Maybe Zak was just a touchy person. It wasn’t quite out of the realm of possibility; friends could hug friends, after all. But he seemed to be hugging deeper, wanting to get even closer than he possibly could be. He found himself awkwardly raising a hand to pat his head. That seemed to be a good enough reaction. 

“Why’d you stop cleaning?” 

“Because you’re on me, muffin,” Darryl mumbled, his voice a little to squeaky for his liking. He appreciated the “hug,” but he had a job to do. Very gently, he nudged Zak away, peeling his arms off from around his chest; the places he touched almost burned when his hands were removed. He didn’t realize they were so high up. “You’re a very… touchy person, aren’t you?”

Reluctantly, he started cleaning again while he leaned back up against the counter. He tried to ignore whatever just happened. “Nah, only with you. You’re very huggable.”

Now what was that supposed to mean? He didn’t realize his face was so red until he heard laughter. He just wanted to clean the counters, was that so much to ask? Ignoring what he figured he’d take as a compliment, he left to go wipe down tables. Zak followed him like a duck. 

There was a beautiful silence, only partially filled by the spray of cleaner. He still felt a little awkward about what happened, but annoyingly enough, Zak didn’t seem all that affected. Had he meant to hug him like that? Did he think of Darryl like that? Could he think of Darryl like that? 

His thoughts were interrupted. “Good luck carrying that heavy ass bag home, dude. I could barely walk around campus with it.” He very deliberately picked up his drawstring, making sure it was actually his drawstring. 

“Language. And it’s not my fault you aren’t used to taking classes seriously.” He tossed the cleaner and rag onto a shelf and picked up his own respective bag. It didn’t feel too heavy to him, maybe he was used to it. 

“I take all my classes seriously, thank you very much!” Darryl laughed as he opened the door, letting him out. He chose not to pay attention to how close Zak stood next to him. 

Locking the door, he replied. “You had a single piece of paper in your bag, and a broken white crayon.” He turned to head to his apartment. He followed. “Why did you even have a crayon?”

“It was a blue crayon, thank you very much. And crayons are very important to a math major’s career.” They both laughed, joking about Zak’s ignorance on the way home. They parted at the fork in the road, and Darryl oddly missed him already. It was weird to have the space next to him void of life. 

@)---’--,---

He arrived home five minutes later, sighing as he shrugged off his bag. He headed to the kitchen to grab himself something, then remembered something. 

_ “But I didn’t do anything! Bad…”  _ That very clearly meant he had done something, regardless if it was to be interpreted as good or bad. He turned around, taking his textbook out. Maybe it was a little heavy.

The cover and first couple pages had nothing on them. That was good, at least. He kept flipping pages after pages, and nothing was marked or torn or shredded. He sighed in relief, flipping to the back. 

On the back cover, there was a single sticky note. Darryl smiled as he read the note and rolled his eyes. 

_ “***-***-5692. Figured I’d shoot my shot :P” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bold of you guys to assume i edit my chapters


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is garbage please enjoy

It had been nearly a week since they exchanged numbers, which means Darryl hadn't gone a single day without seeing Zak. For some reason, this guy was insistent upon bothering him every single day, not that he minded. It didn't help that he worked the library full time.

Zak, during this time, had somehow grown even closer to him. Before he knew it, he had somehow let him behind the counter on slow days and trusted him not to destroy anything. There were constant eyes on him as he greeted students, repaired books to the best of his ability, and struggled with computer software. 

He had also gotten a lot of shit from George, who still didn't have enough experience to run the library on his own. Every single day he worked he complained that he had to see the "disgusting lovey-dovey boyfriends" next to him while he was just trying to check people’s books out. Darryl ignored how often he called them a couple.

Zak was late today. He had usually been arriving around an hour after they opened and stayed until his shift was over or until close, but it was currently two hours after open and he was nowhere in sight.

It was odd, but finals were coming up soon. He was probably studying, but he also could have done something stupid to get himself killed. Both were equally plausible. 

Even though he loved him, as a friend, Darryl was way too exhausted to worry too much about it. He had foolishly pulled an all nighter to study, and he was really regretting it. It didn't help that George knocked over the coffee machine, causing it to break, and only bothered to put a sticky note by it with a "Sorry :^(" as his only heads up. He didn't even clean up the mess. Prick. 

His vision was a little fuzzy and he realized he was leaning pretty close to the counter. There was only one other student in the library, and they were heavily zoned into their work. All of his daily chores were done, and George wasn't here.

He could take a little five minute nap. It probably wouldn't hurt anyone. Concerningly quickly, he closed his eyes and the world faded away.

@)---'--,---

There was something on his back, but it was soft and stagnant. The wood pressed against his face was not. He lifted his head a couple inches, slowly blinking; the sun was in a different position than before. How long had he been out?

Now there was an arm around him. He was too tired to care. In fact, it felt kind of nice; he gently leaned into whoever was holding him.

"You awake?" He recognized the voice, but it was a little softer than he remembered. Was that Zak?

He groaned slightly in response, not wanting him to let go just yet. He had gotten a little more comfortable with the other boy over the past few days. There was soft laughter to his left.

"Go back to sleep if you need to. I got everything covered for you." The arm didn't leave. He snuggled closer to the warmth around him and deeper into the library counter.

Oh fuck, he was sleeping in the library. 

He shot up, accidentally knocking off whatever was on his back. His eyes widened and he instantly started shaking. How embarrassing was this!? To be caught sleeping in the middle of work!?

"Hey, hey, take it easy. I got everything for you, don't worry about it." It was comforting to know there wasn't fire everywhere around him, but how in the world could Zak work the equipment when he didn't know how? Who had come in? How long had he been sleeping?

"There were no problems? Nothing? Everything's okay?" He trusted him, but this was still his job. He could get fired for this, and this job was his only source of income. 

If anything, he was pulled closer. He didn't mind. "Seriously, only like, three people came in when you were asleep." Darryl opened his mouth. "Oh, you were asleep for… maybe an hour and a half since I came in? Yeah, that sounds about right." How'd he know what he was going to ask?

His heart slowed a little, thankful Zak didn't majorly screw anything up. "How'd you… figure out how to… use the equipment?" He looked up. Zak looked away. 

"I… texted George through your phone. I didn't snoop or anything, don't worry. I just used it to ask him what to do." His cheeks were oddly red, even though Darryl was the one who was being hugged.

He took a few deep breaths, and his heart slowly but surely went back to normal. "You should have just woken me up, but… it's sweet that you let me sleep. With a blanket." He grabbed the fabric off the floor, but it didn't quite feel like a blanket. It was a little softer, and it was also smaller. He held it up.

"Oh, that's my hoodie. I washed it yesterday, don't worry." Neither of them moved Zak's arm. "Why were you out so cold? You okay?"

He yawned into his hand, still clinging onto the hoodie. It smelled like Febreeze. "I stayed up all night studying. I figured I could do it, I guess I was wrong."

He looked down at him with a worried expression. "Dude, you gotta take better care of yourself," he said while holding a Monster behind his back.

"You drink energy drinks daily, Zak."

"That's none of your concern."

@)---'--,---

Throughout the rest of the day they barely moved from that position; Darryl was leaning in so he was just at Zak's shoulders and Zak's arms were around him, seeming to protect him from something. His hoodie was folded up and laid gently on the counter.

It was closing time before they knew it. Darryl cleaned table after table while listening to him squabbling on about whatever it is he was talking about now. Too soon they had to exit and lock up.

"Hey, wait," he called to Zak. He spun around, immediately giving him his attention. "Hold out your hand."

He messed with one of the few pins on his sweater, and finally undid it. It was his muffin pin. He gently placed it into the palm of Zak's hand. 

"What's… what's this for?" He tried to play it off cool, but his small blush was obvious and his eyes were wider than usual. 

"It's for helping me out today. I really needed it." He grinned at the other boy. "It's my favorite pin, so be careful."

For a while, he was at a loss of words. It was just a small piece of tin, but it was  _ his  _ small piece of tin. "Thank you," he mumbled. It was rare to see Zak so speechless. He clipped it to his shirt.

And with that, they closed up the library and walked home together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its the end, boys. thanks again to den <3

"Is your boyfriend coming over today?"

"Zak always comes an hour after- wait I don't have a boyfriend!" Darryl glared daggers at George, expecting him to laugh, but he just looked confused.

"Wait, you don't? I thought Zak was your boyfriend?" Well this was embarrassing. Who would even think that? They weren’t that close. 

"No, he's not." He couldn't really see how George was confused.

There was a small silence. "Did you two break up?" His words weren’t diluted with laughter, and neither of the two were the best at pranking, so this couldn't be a joke. He had to be serious. 

Hiding his blush, Darryl ran to do "chores" in the back room. In reality, he was just trying to escape the awkward situation. "Did Zak put you up to this? We were never dating in the first place!" 

To his demise, George followed him. "You weren't? Then why have you guys been flirting with each other for days now?" He tried to close the door on him, but he squirmed his way in. 

He avoided every single opportunity for eye contact as he messed around with cups, napkins, and other trash and random things. "We don't… flirt…"

He patiently waited until Darryl was done pretending to be busy. "So you don't flirt, but you fall asleep into his arms and give him your favorite pin that I'm not even allowed to touch?" There were few times Darryl wanted to punch someone, and this was one of those times. 

He sighed, dropping the act. "Listen, Zak and I are just friends. That's all." He turned to leave, avoiding George's eyes. 

"Did you want to be more than friends?"

He paused where he stood. Had he wanted to be something else with Zak…? He pondered for a while, waiting less for an answer but more for a realization. George waited. 

When all else failed, humor would do the trick. Forcing a laugh, he spoke up, "Aren't you looking after that Clay guy? I don't quite like you like that…" They both knew what he was doing. 

"Darryl, you know what I mean. Do you… have a crush on Zak?" A small silence passed before he clarified. "And it's not like I mind or anything, but I seriously doubt you think of him as just a friend."

He looked down like a coward in a lion’s shoes. He didn't want to own up to it at all, but there was no use hiding anymore. In such a short amount of time, he had fallen for quite possibly the most annoying person on the planet. And God was it nice.

He sighed, raising his head wistfully. “I wouldn’t… mind… if we started, if we. If we dated.” He snapped back into focus, remembering where he was. “But that’s not going to happen, Zak only likes me as a friend.” 

George threw a paper cup at him and started yelling. “I have to see you two  _ cuddling _ every single day, and you think he likes you as a friend!? Fucking hell!”

The cup hit him in the face. Ow. “Language, mister! And keep your voice down,” he added. The door opened and a very familiar voice called out to him, and a very familiar feeling in his chest came with it. “You know what? I’ll ask him. I’ll ask him out myself! You’ll see, he doesn’t like me. And don’t throw stuff, you muffin.” 

And with that, he left to ask Zak out.

@)---’--,---

So maybe he didn’t ask him out immediately, that was just fine. He meant to wait until now; until he was extremely close to Zak. Until he was being hugged again. By his warm, soft arms. And his head was upon his shoulders. Behind the library counter. Together. Very closely.

“You okay? You haven’t been speaking a lot…” He was pulled out of his calm and collective thoughts. “You’re also a little pale. Did you sleep okay?” For some reason, he never learned to keep his voice to a whisper in a library.

He snuggled closer, fearing that with rejection came the loss of affection. “Yeah, I slept fine.” He wasn’t quite sure what to say, but his mouth wanted to scream it at the top of his lungs. 

There was a small hum in response. They stayed in the same position, unblinking, unbreathing. A Monster sat behind the counter.

“Zak?” His heart was beating and his tongue was so dry. He didn’t want to leave the comfort of his warmth, but he lifted his head up anyway. Zak was wearing his gifted muffin pin. “Yeah?” Here goes nothing.

“We’re… we’re friends, right?” It came out a little raspier and squeakier than he intended, but a start was a start. 

There was silence. Was he suspicious? Were they going to be okay? Are they even friends? They’ve known each other for a month, it was so incredibly stupid to ask him out. He should back out, he shouldn’t-

“I thought we were already dating?” There was no mischievous undertone, and there still wasn’t any pull away from the position. He glanced up, and Zak was looking back at him, head tilted in confusion. His eyes shined with worry. 

“We are. I was just…keeping you on your toes.” 

Darryl went back to being in his boyfriend’s arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was hot garbage and it wasnt even 1k. thanks for being here


End file.
